Saudi Arabia has produced only five gold coin issues in its history, and gold guineas were minted for just one year, 1950 (Hejira date 1370), as trade coinage. They are exactly the same size and weight as British gold sovereigns, upon which they were modeled.

These coins are quite striking and unusual. Both the obverse and reverse feature scripted Arabic legends inside and outside of a circle. At the bottom of the obverse are the traditional crossed swords of the kingdom, flanked by two palm trees. At the bottom of the reverse appears the Arabic numeral 1, again flanked by palms. A total of 2 million coins were minted.